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Suicide bomber targeting NATO forces kills Afghan civilians

A suicide bomber attacked a patrol of NATO and Afghan soldiers in the southern province of Zabul on Saturday, killing up to two Afghan civilians and wounding more than 20 others.

AFP - A suicide bomber blew himself up alongside NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing up to two Afghan civilians and wounding more than 20 others, officials said.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which has 64,500 troops in Afghanistan to fight a growing Taliban insurgency, confirmed "an incident" involving its troops but had no other details available.

The attack happened when Afghan police and NATO troops were walking through a small town in the province of Zabul, the local district governor told AFP.

"International forces were on a foot patrol in Shahjoy town when a suicide bomber on foot detonated himself alongside them. In the incident, 21 civilians were wounded and two of them were killed," said Shahjoy governor Abdul Qayoum.

The deputy police chief of Zabul province confirmed the attack.

"It was a suicide attack that resulted in 22 (Afghan) people wounded. Two were killed so far," Ghulam Jailani said.

The interior ministry said one Afghan civilian died and 22 were wounded when the suicide bomber ripped through coalition forces on foot patrol.

Elsewhere in the troubled south, six Taliban-linked insurgents were killed in a gunbattle with Afghan and international forces on Friday, police said.

The rebels were killed when Afghan police, backed by Western troops, pursued an attack on Pusht Rod district in southwestern province Farah.

More than a dozen rebels were wounded, Faqir Ahmad Askar, said provincial police chief.

There are more than 100,000 NATO and US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan helping the Afghan government defeat a resurgent Taliban since the hardline movement was toppled from power in the 2001 US-led invasion.